Classical Gas is an independent web site and is not affiliated
to any of the clubs or organisers of the events featured. Words and Pictures
by Michael unless attributed otherwise. Michael is a proud member of the MCC,
ACTC, Dellow Register and Falcon amongst others, but does not represent their
views nor the views of any other organisers or clubs.

Andy Petherick (Class A) and Nick Farmer (Class 8) were the overall
winners of a high scoring Taw and Torridge Trial on 20 September. Stuart
Bartlett came close to an overall win, finishing only one point behind
Nick.

Hans passed
away earlier this week. A long time VW trialler Hans won his first
triple in 1985, achieving this several times, the latest only last year.
The driving force behind The Camel Classic for many years it hardly
seems possible he is no longer with us.

18 Feb 15

Carl Talbot
won The Northern trial on Saturday with a clean sheet. Charlie Knifton
was back in his Scorpion and was second on 7. Bill Bennett challenged
Carl almost to the finish until he dropped 4 on the penultimate section
followed by another 4 on Sandale where he is pictured by Mark Milne
being recovered from the clag.

Steven Price captures some of the action on High Bray during North Devon
MC's Exmoor Trial on 25 January. Carl Talbot won the trial with one of
four clean sheets spread across three classes.
Click here for Full Results

Carl Talbot
was overall winner of Woolbridge Motor Clubs Hardy Trial on Sunday
despite fighting electrical gremlins all day. Ian Davis was second in
his familar VW Buggy. The Hardy contained its usual mixture of tracks
and sections on private land. There was a lot of mud about and Butts
Lane had to be cancelled after several competitors sustained body
damage.

Josh Moss
(pictured by Calvin Talbot of
Cstartworks) was overall winner in his Class 8 Gregory, dropping one
mark on Sapseds Surprise in the Catswood Complex. Pete Hart was second
dropping one on the same section. Dean Partington cleaned
the hill but lost the win when he didn't get away from the Bulls
Cross restart.

The MGCC
Midland Centre report on their Autumn Trial at Burton Dassett on 28
September - Well Sunday turned out be a cracking day in every
respect, the weather, the support from all the marshals and officials
and the largest entry of 39 for years and just like the Spring Trial no
non-starters.

Brian Osborn laid on a
sporting course in his inimitable style. Every section except one had at
least one clean. The exception was 7, used after lunch where Matt
Johnson’s PWA7 got closest with just one lost, a heroic effort. We
turned the hilly swoops of section 3 into a special test after lunch, it
seemed to bring out the hooligan in everybody and judging by the yelps
from some of the passengers I think they would agree.

The results team of Jane Bury
and Pam Zachrzewski turned out the scores in record time, many thanks to
them. Steve Courts and Jim Knifton’s IMP tied on 34 marks lost with Carl
Talbot and Stephan Duve in their Buckler, but Steve had a time of 36
seconds on the ST against Carl’s 38.6 seconds. So Steve took the Autumn
Cup by 2.6secs, sounds like a Grand Prix finishing margin. Best MG from
a good selection, including PA,TC, Midget and NG special, was Andrew
Tucker-Peake in Dad Adrian’s MGF, he won the Allen Trophy.

Tom Goggin

Sadly Tom
Goggin passed away on 11 September, following complications after an
operation on a broken leg. His funeral has been arranged for 30
September, 11.30 am, at All Saints Church, Borehamwood followed by an
internment at Borehamwood cemetery.

Embodying the
true spirit of the clubman in Motorsport, Tom drove many different cars
in local trials and auto tests and competed in long distance trials.
Over the years his stable included Mini's, his special Marigold and more
recently Ford Escorts.

Tom was
involved in organising many events and served as an official of the MCC,
SODC and Falcon. He was particularly associated with Derbyshire. As one
of the founders of the SODC Conquest Trial he helped create the
deviation on Great Hucklow. More recently he was Assistant Clerk of the
Course on the Edinburgh.

Perhaps above
all Tom will be remembered as a man who thoroughly enjoyed his Motor
Sport and always had a smile for everyone.

Dave Cook captures Alistair McVittie sinking into the mud
on Hey Slack during last weekends Ilkley Trial. Carl Talbot won the
event, dropping 24 marks, half of them when he scored a maximum at
Longside Wood. Julian Lack was second overall on 37

Strouds Ebworth Trial was
a family affair. Josh Moss (pictured here by
Dave Cook) won overall in his
Gregory Special beating Dad Ian in his Imp to second place. It was a
slippery, high scoring event, with half the entry scoring over a
century.

Exmoor Clouds Videos by Mike Maddocks. Nick Farmer was
best car dropping 21 in his Fugitive, closely followed by Keith Sanders
on 23 in his Scimitar. Paul Doughty was best motorcycle on his KTM.
Click here for Full Results

Carl Talbot was best car on The taw &
Torridge Trial on 22nd September with a clean sheet. Dean Partington
would also had been clean if he hadn't dropped an uncharacteristic 12 on
one section. The entry was notable for a large number of Motorcycle
Combinations and the best part of a third of the cars in Class 5.
Click here for the results.

June Blakley is fund raising in the Race for Life in Bath on 16 June.
June lost her daughter to cancer six years ago so this is a cause close
to her heart. June, John and Alex have supported our sport for many
years. This is our opportunity to support them.

Calvin Talbot pictures Mick Workman and
Tony Underhill as they concentrate on their ascent of
John Walker on The Allen Trial

Dean Partington had the only clean sheet,
winning The Allen Trial and The Wheelspin Trophy

30 Nov 12

Multiply will cease to host the Classical
Gas and Dellow Message Boards from the end of November 2012. It may very
well be that they remain accessible for a while but that's their
official position.

The Classical Gas Board dates to 1999 and
had a ten year life on MSN before that closed and I migrated it to
Multiply. After a lot of consideration I decided that Facebook was the
future for both but migration of the old stuff to FB wasn't possible.

With so much good stuff I needed to find
a home for it so its now available as both PDF's on a SkyDrive and also
on Blogger. Neither would preserve the images properly so these are
available on SmugMug and Google+ with the proviso the right image may
take a bit of finding. I have not transferred the Video but most of it
should be available on YouTube.

Dave Cook pictures John White negotiating
the fierce rocks of Putwell on his way to the sole 2012 Triple on this
years Edinburgh Trial

24 Oct 12

Jon Robilliard

Sadly Jon lost his long battle with
Cancer and passed away earlier this week. From Cornwall Jon was well
known as a successful driver and builder of VW Beetles. At this time our
thoughts are with his wife Sharon and his daughters Emma and Becky.

The Classical Gas
Message Board becomes The Classical Gas Discussion Group and moves to
Facebook.

Unfortunately Multiply are to stop
hosting Message Boards from the end of November. After some research and
taking some advise I decided that the Facebook environment is the way to
go. You have to be signed up to Facebook to access the group.

I will be archiving all the old content which goes
back to the late 90's and contains some good stuff. That will be
available via a link from this site.

June Blakeley will be taking place in
The Cancer Research UK Race
for Life at Bath on 17 June. June has very special reasons for
supporting this cause. June, John and Alex give generously of their time
to scruitineer and marshal for us all over the country. This is our
opportunity to support them.

Charlie Knifton lifts a wheel as he
restarts on Lothwaite Side with Bassentwaite Lake as the backdrop in
this picture by Dave Cook

9 Feb 12

TORBAY TRIAL – 25TH MARCH 2012

The Trial will start and finish at the
popular Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford, Exeter, immediately off the A38,
approximately 1 mile from the end of the M5, with easy and direct access
to all the main roads. The plan is to include 16 observed sections and 2
observed tests. We are always looking for ways to improve the event and
have carefully taken on-board the much valued feedback forms kindly
completed by nearly all of last years competitors.

This year we have reduced the overall
mileage by 12 miles, reduced most of the dual carriageway mileage for
motorcycle classes, introduced a lunch halt to prevent early runners
arriving too much before Sections open, and we’re looking at some
deviation options for solo bikes to avoid the mud bath and long slippy
lane at Upper Kingswell.We will of course be retaining the much loved
Classic hills such as Simms and Tipley, and the popular Sections of Cod
Wood and Wooston, and plan to have at least two new Sections not used
before.

Remember – Last years event was
over-subscribed so please send your entries in early to avoid
disappointment! Entries close on Monday 5th March or sooner if fully
subscribed. As of 9th February there are 58 confirmed entries so if you
plan on entering please don’t delay otherwise you may risk
disappointment.

What is the automotive connection between
– An old hat factory; Tar Barrels and the man on an Omnibus.

This is a Round Britain Quiz type
question. You may have to probe a bit to solve the riddle before you can
move on to get the answer to the main question. Have a go, even if you
aren't on track my responses may guide you to the final solution.

Mike Chatwin is pictured restarting on
Vinegar Hill, followed by other videos by Jon Way

18 Oct 11

Congratulations to Duncan Stephens

2009 - MSA Sporting Trials Champion

2010 - MSA PCT
Champion

2011 - MCC
Triple Winner

2012 - ?????

11 Oct 11

Tim Smith urges his
sidevalve
Cannon to climb one of the steep slopes during Stroud's "Not" The
Ebworth Trial last Saturday. Dave Cook was there to record the action
and comments - "It was a good days trial, with four rounds of I think 11
or 12 sections. In the morning there was not much grip on the wet
grass, but as the day progressed the grass dried out and was soon ripped
of to leave dry stony soil, with lots of grip. Quite a number of
competitors retired with mechanical problems."
Click here for more pictures.

This coming Saturday mornings Mobil 1 The Grid TV show
should have a small feature on this years
March Hare Trial. The show is at
7.25 am on Channel 4. Its repeated one night in the
week and will also be on Motors TV sometime Sunday.

Dave Keat’s funeral is at Nanstallon
Church on Wednesday 23rd. March at 1.30 p.m. Apparently the church only
holds around 80 and it is thought that family will take all of the
seats. A large field has been arranged for parking. Please come early to
ensure you get parked in time. Following burial at Nanstallon Church
there will be a celebration of Dave’s life at The Borough Arms which
will be closed to the public as a mark of respect.

Hope you enjoyed following Tweets
(Twitter Reports) from
Michael & Josh on
The Mechanics Trial. Most of them are still available by
Clicking Here. On the day the
#mechtrial
search didn't pick up all the tweets which was a known Twitter issue as
they were experiencing a search overload as a result of the disaster in
Japan.

I plan to set up a similar facility for
the Lands End and will use
#LETrial as the
search string. All Twitter users have to do is put
#LETrial in any
tweet, its that simple. Competitors, Marshals,
Spectators, Followers, all are welcome.

I'm very happy to set something up for
other events. Just let me know.

11 Mar 11

Hopefully Mechanics Trial reports from
Josh Moss, Michael Leete and perhaps others will appear above. Its also
worth
Clicking Here in case the search doesn't pick them all up. Anyone
can participate by including #mechtrial in their tweet

Just over two weeks to Falcon's Mile Tree
Farm Trial on 27 March. There's the best part of 90 years experience in
the organising team of Michael Leete (Clerk of the Course) and David
Maitland (Secretary of the Meeting) who hope you will
come and enjoy a day with them as a
competitor or a marshal. Its a clubsport event so no competition licence
is required.

Without any
rain during the previous weeks the sections were dry and Dean was one of
six clean sheets from a full entry of 50, winning the premier award by
setting the fastest times on the special tests.

News of the
Torbay Trial
on 27 March. The organisers say - We’ve got something of a treat this
year, as well as the popular Simms, Tipley, Baddaford Lane, Cod Woods
we’ve got Wooston Steep, John Grant’s Lane (taken us 3 years to talk
the farmer into letting us across his land to get to it!) plus a couple
of new hills never used before.

Falcon's March Hare Trial is on 6th March
and the regs are now available. This year the March Hare will
start and finish from The Chequers at Redbourn (near J9 on the M1) with
Breakfast, Evening Meal and Trailer parking available on site. The
sections aren't rough and there will be a new lane and new sections on
private land to enjoy.

To summarise the answer. The car is a
Lotus VI. It was the very first of the type made and unlike the "racers"
that were to follow it had a solid beam front axle and a lofty ground
clearance. It was built for Sinclair Sweeny although its only when
Arthur Hay bought it is much information available. Big thanks to
present owner Martyn Halliday for the pictures and information about the
car.

Going to award three prizes. Tim Smith -
For spotting it was a Lotus, Josh Moss for knowing it was a MkVI and to
Andrew Green for knowing the car was built for Sinclair Sweeny.

22 Dec 10

Classical Gas Christmas Quiz - Here's the
first question. There is a prize of a bottle of wine for the right
answer, provided I can deliver it while I am trialling!

This famous car was last trialled in 1964
and hopefully will appear on the hills again after some TLC.

ACTC
2011 - As the year draws to a close its time to sign up for the ACTC
Championship next year. Its well worthwhile just to get the excellent
quarterly magazine. Well written reports and excellent insights into the
sport from the top ACTC officials, all of whom are active competitors or
organisers. Members get all the event regs and results emailed and are
actively consulted about their ideas to improve the sport. At £17 for
membership including the magazine or £11 just for the magazine its a
bargin.

Carl Talbot is
cataloguing the breakages in Ford Pop type axles to ascertain the
weakest specific parts in their order of vulnerability,
ie not just 'the diff. broke' but more specific , as in: 'the
planet gears broke' or 'seized on pin' or 'pinion teeth broke' or
'half shaft broke'

Carl is looking
at improving the standard "Pop" axle for
trialling, having done a lot of work on the
"English" axle, coming up with a solution using a transit diff that is
used successfully by a lot of triallers.

At the moment Carl is trialling a Buckler
Mk5. I am sure we will benefit from his work on the standard Pop axle
if we can help him with this
information. If you can help please email
mleete24@hotmail.com and I
will forward. - Michael